NFL Owners Meetings: Several On-Field Changes Considered

NFL owners at their meeting today will begin hearing proposals to expand instant replay, including "reviewing penalty calls." Other items on the agenda include the following:

• Amending overtime structure so that "both teams get a possession even if the first series ends in a touchdown."
• Allowing teams to "elect to enforce on an extra point or on the succeeding kickoff an opponent’s personal or unsportsmanlike conduct foul."
• Permitting game officials or the officiating department in N.Y. to "eject players for both flagrant football and non-football acts."
• Initiating a "scrimmage play that would replace the onside kick for a team trailing in a game" (AP, 3/24).

Meanwhile, the Seahawks following the death of Paul Allen have "solidified their ownership structure" and declared that the team is "not for sale." The team is "now owned by the Paul G. Allen Trust," with his sister, Jody Allen as Chair and Bert Kolde as Vice Chair. The future of the franchise was a "sizeable topic at the NFL's fall meetings" (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/25).